Lapeyrère Jules

Lapeyrère, Jules Jules Lapeyrère was a farmer and the mayor of Castin (Gers). He took the position in 1910 and continued in this function for the next 33 years. A veteran of the 1914-1918 War, he had participated in the Battle of Verdun where he had been gassed. The event had marked him severely, and he still harbored a great deal of resentment against the Germans. A believer in Republican values, he was one of the few mayors who would not swear an oath of loyalty to Pétain. During the period between the two wars, he welcomed a number of refugees and foreign nationals to the area. In 1938, Mr. Leuchtmann, a Hungarian immigrant, had settled in the Gers Department. There was a shortage of farm labor in the area, and he was hired as a groundskeeper for the Auch town hall. Mr. Leuchtmann then sent for his wife and their two sons. In 1940, the Auch town hall found them refuge at a farm near Castin, where all the members of the family were hired to work. The sons were unable to pursue their studies due to the Vichy anti-Jewish legislation. They became naturalized French citizens in 1940 but were registered, and from December 1942 their identity cards bore the “Jew” stamp. To protect them from arrest, Jules Lapeyrère provided them with four new official identity cards, omitting the infamous stamp, which helped the Leuchtmanns to survive the war. He did the same for all six members of the Leibovitchi family. Jules Lapeyrère took serious risks, because his town clerk, whom he believed he could trust because he had hired so that the man would have a regular salary, nonetheless belonged to the Militia. After the war, a list of people suspected by the fascist authorities for their opposition to the regime was found in the village. It included the names of Jules Lapeyrère and the Castin parish priest, Théodore Claverie. Jules Lapeyrère had saved the lives of 10 Jews in danger. On July 18, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Jules Lapeyrère as Righteous Among the Nations.